My thoughts on the Hellblade series so far

 "If I can survive the fire of Sutur and escape my darkness, then so can you"

Ninja Theories latest two games are widely considered to be incredibly competent art pieces in themselves for the involved narrative that they tell, if not for 'complexity of their gameplay systems'. They are lean experiences, telling the narrative they need to and then dipping out leaving you to swallow the bulk of it all in your own time. And they were games that I always wanted to try out but never found the space. That was, until I picked up Game Pass and thought "Hey, I've already get Sacrifice waiting for me to finish it- why don't I just go back to back?" And with that was born this little mini-review of the series of the Senua titles and what I think of this, what might ultimately go down as Ninja Theories presiding legacy over the video game landscape.

First off it's important to say that basically the Hellblade games are extremely high budget indie games, that is to say- they are paced and presented with about as much narrative exposition spoken over inquisitive jaunts through interesting environments as your average 'Gone Home' or 'Everyone's Gone to the Rapture' title. What sets the games apart is the way they've always launched at the cutting edge of visual fidelity for their time, and the fact that these are the stories of a warrior who raises her sword when she needs to. It's just that sometimes you are left wondering whether you swing that sword to defend her physical body, or to protect the very fragile essence of her mind itself as it buckles against the massive throes of trauma she experiences in both titles. The games do not make it obvious which is which at all.

The original Hellblade places protagonist Senua on a vivid and fog strewn journey into the land of Hel in search of the soul of her beloved, and within that framing device a great deal of darkly fantastical imagery is placed upon a inherently twisting introspective investigation. Senua is our viewing glass into this world and yet she is a deeply unreliable narrator thanks to, as should become obvious pretty quickly, her schizophrenia which conjures illusion borne out of her own struggles to accept the frankly horrific murder of her lover and the fantastic tales of Norse myth she recalls throughout the story as told by her old mentor Druth. In that sense Hellblade feels like a gauntlet through the indescribable given focus and stitched together through myth and imagination- though filtered through the troubling lens of a deeply traumatic mind. 

Her 'Sacrifice' is interwoven with puzzles that pertain to 'insight' into her past and the people that shaped her. As stories are narrated by bodiless voices or rarely in brief murky flashes obscured to a degree that you don't notice the out-of-place FNV means by which they are captured. (Druth's FNVs are unmistakeable though. There's no disguising that dude's realness!) And here and there across her journey manifestations of the demons that infest her 'Hel' come to life and we engage in combat- arguably Hellblade's weakest attribute. All as we forge greater to an internal synthesis where the emotionally wounded Senua can perhaps start the healing process. 

For all that I've heard spitting on the combat of these games I have to be honest- it isn't actually all that bad. These fights are clearly designed with more an idea of being cinematic than complex and dynamic, but given their relative infrequency they are totally serviceable as simple breaks from the puzzle solving and frank storytelling. They even throw in different enemy types and dodge cycles to keep things interesting, and even a special move you can fall back on in times of stress. It's not particularly difficult either, with Senua pretty much undying unless she gets double-tapped whilst already on the floor, which is pretty easy to avoid as it is. Near the late game, however, there are a couple of frankly annoying gauntlets where the game throws giant waves at the player which suffer from the same problem that Kingdom Come Deliverance's late game hoards did- this combat system absolutely is not designed for multiple combatants. It becomes a game of awkwardly snapping between enemies that can literally spawn out of aether behind you if the game so chooses and this doesn't feel like the kind of game where you're supposed to get frustrated at the enemy waves. (Just saying.)

Senua is beset her entire adventure by four voices in her head, manifestations of her mental illness, that helpfully work to convey conflict, doubt, resolve and everything she keeps so tightly wrapped inside. It really is a unique framing device and a way to get over the lack of direct supporting cast in the game. Aside from the FMVs, Senua is literally the only human model in the entire game, which makes since when you consider the amount of effort that went into creating her at the time as one of the most realistic looking video game characters conceived of. Giving her people to talk with, even if those people are just herself, gives the push and pull a narrative of significant change requires. And, fittingly, it helps to reinforce one of the key themes of Senua- her feeling of deep isolation as a result of her psychosis. 

If there was anything I would criticize from the original, it would have to be that ending. Not the actual ending itself, but the lead-up and its gauntlets of combat, really highlighting the shortcomings there, followed by a frankly frustrating 'revelation' moment. Without spoiling anything because these games are so narratively solid you really should play them- the key most revelations are two fold- namely the significance of the wonderfully baritone male inner voice who hounds her, and the source of this 'darkness' she feels haunts her. Both are resolved rather inexplicably. She just decides that she knows the answer, and whilst the identity of the voice doesn't take a rocket scientist to solve-  the other mystery is genuinely pulled out of thin air. If this entire journey takes place in her subconsciousness, or at least she can only cobble together fragments of her mind to reach synthesis- then how the hell could she have discovered the fate of someone she, by all accounts, was not aware of beforehand? Is this was supposed to convey some sort of repressed memory- they did a shockingly poor job foreshadowing that given this entire adventure takes place in Senua's head. It's arguably a minor point- but one I feel worth voicing because... they kind of do it again in Hellblade 2. (But I'm getting ahead of myself.)

Hellblade 2 Senua's Saga is probably the most graphical impressive game I've ever played, and artistically the thing is shot like a modern Lord of the Rings movie in the composition of landscapes and light, the flashes of battle, the hues of the supernatural and the sheer fidelity of the world in front of you. Almost in direct contrast to the arguably entirely ethereal setting of the original, Hellblade 2 actually takes place in the real world, for the most part, as Senua- now reaffirmed in her connection with others- travels up north as a slave in order to discover the heart of the Northmen who, famously, were responsible for the mutilation of her lover- but more recently are conducting various raids and enslavements in Senua's homeland. Rather curiously the connection these men have to Senua's lost love is not addressed once in this entire game, which I can guess surmise just how definitively she put that part of her to rest in the original.

Materially how the original game is very similar to the sequel, with the exception that whereas that had the sensation of 'puzzle rooms' in a manner similar to your average indie game- Hellblade 2 feels more like a big budget epic adventure occasionally interrupted with puzzles, which in themselves are a visual treat to behold as you manipulate blue fireflies into hard rocky substance by the flickering of nearby fires. And whatsmore I have to be honest, I was very impressed with the incredible improvements to swordplay- which in the original was more of a clunky but impressive animation showcase stretched a little beyond it's limits but this time around feels like an almost visceral experience.

From the very first actual fight Senua wages it is clear that Ninja Theory want you to feel the din of chaos- the confusion of the flurry, the taste of the dirt, the blunt violence of metal searing flesh- it is a stunning and breathless spectacle that, at times, defies belief to be anything more than a cinematic. Of course, this effect is achieved because combat is still largely on the rails, the the breath of the presentation (as well as the general framing of the entire game as a straight, focused narrative) just about makes up for that. It was actually in these moments of battle, particularly at night, that I first caught those glimpses of fidelity so stunning it looked indistinguishable from real life. Just flashes mind, but the effect is truly surreal in a way that might just beat the old 'unreal valley' effect I've felt ever since the days of 'Beowulf'.

Additionally, given the setting being largely in the real world and Senua's progress as a character, we actually have in-game side characters this time around who are rendered just as impressively as Senua herself- although obviously not as iconic. (They don't even wear their own war paint or nuthin!) These supporting cast lack quite the level of depth that Senua is afforded, at least throughout the main narrative, but act as emotion tethers to the brutal world that heightens the player's connection to it- mirroring the way that Senua herself becomes increasingly tied to a world she thought had left her behind. It's a fantastic bit of diegetic narrative set dressing which brings so much to the world and story that I love to see.

The reason I specify 'in the main narrative' is due to the fact that Senua's Saga actually features alternative narrators that are from the perspectives of other characters throughout this story, which help us break through the lens of who these people actually are as well as what is real and what are part of Senua's psychosis. Unfortunately I could not bring myself to try any of these out purely because of the HiddenFolk chapter, which was such a never ending assault of puzzles that I just could not endure a second time around. That chapter dragged! But I can definitely see someone else really taking to the Hellblade enough to get a lot out of the renewed reasons to play through again, even if just to see what they missed.

Saga is largely focused around these giants that blight the land of the north, sources of many great hardships and suffering which afflicts the isolated townships up in the hills. Now from the get-go, the fact we're dealing with actual giants seems at odds with what we know of the Hellblade world which seems, as far we could tell, to be set in firm reality aside from Senua's delusions. Solving this as a viewer forms the backbone of the plot intrigue and sets this story apart as just that tad more active than the previous game as now there is something to unravel. Yet even saying that, and pretty accurately figuring out the third act before it played out- I'm still at odds with if it all made as much sense as they want it to. The second giant in particular doesn't seem like it lives up to scrutiny.

And finally- the revelation: this one might be poorer than the first. It's a narratively satisfying reveal, that is, and a perfect culmination of the Saga's current story- but there is absolutely no congruent way that Senua could have made such a deduction on her own. She believes fully in her psychosis and even has her delusion ratified by those around her thanks to what I can only presume is a shared group deliria- yet somehow she works her way to a conclusion that actively opposes the delusions she has lived through, despite never questioning her grip on reality up until now. Sure, she knows something is wrong- but her beliefs paint that as some sort of possession or shamanistic second-sight into the land of the dead: nothing would permit her to totally shatter her own warped sense of reality even in the midst of the most tense confrontation. Shame really- it was a really satisfying finale otherwise.

Hellblade really is a narrative gaming experience unlike any other out there- and really does feel like the ultimate culmination of everything Ninja Theory have been working towards up until now. Short though the games are, they are experience pieces designed to stick with you for the unique story they're telling and the unique device through which they bind you to their world. Much to my own surprise I actually think that the Saga is the superior one- simply for the amount of actual substantive pondering I've had on the game and what it's themes and layers represent- rather than the first game where I was just puzzled about what exactly happened at the end, and then kind of what "oh" when I figured it out. I'm not sure there really needs to be another story in this, though some might see that last moment as a cliffhanger- I think the very fact it ends on the precipice of two ravines is kind of the point itself. Besides, I would love to see Ninja Theory take their out-of-the-ordinary storytelling chops into something more gameplay traditional like that DMC game they made all those years ago- I can see forsee something truly spectacular out of them in the future!

Is Ninja Theory cooked?

 

Over the past few weeks it has become abundantly clear that there's no more dangerous a position in the games industry then being employed at Xbox Studios. Whereas in any other studio they're waiting for a pin drop to get you out the door, at Xbox they're just trolling around trying to remember who they've hired to kick them out. These fools have absolutely no qualms with destroying a successful company and then whine about how they haven't got enough prestige builders in their camp. Which, I might add, is the exact same conduct that EA popularised all those years ago to solidify their reputation as the most hated company admits gamers and developers! Now Xbox seems to have eclipsed EA at their worst in many regards and I can't help but wonder if we're ever going to get a developer we can trust ever again! But those are big-picture issues, let's focus on the now.

Ninja Theory have been a studio that always seems to have earnt furrowed brows as they've truckled along despite always trying to create something spectacular- and I mean that genuinely. I don't think there was ever a time they tried for a game of muted ambition, or put something out that is below their weight level in hopes of cutting down on manpower and maybe even keeping the lights on. They were the developer behind the underloved Heavenly Sword which I recall being spoken about heavily in the months before it launched for it's striking female protagonist and grand sweeping scale- and then was lost in history just a few months after dropping. The same could be said of 'Odyssey: Journey to the West'- but I've never forgotten about that game and the promise it held as a sort of 'Horizon-style' revival of one of the best loved stories in history. And they straight up got themselves booed after putting out the unfortunately angled 'DMC: Devil May Cry'- which probably would have been perfectly fine if they just didn't call the protagonist Dante. Or just made it a prequel. Neither of which would have been decisions made by Ninja Theory themselves. What they worked on, the game itself, they crushed!

In many ways the Hellblade franchise seems to be something of their swansong- as a piece of content they fully developed in house, at their relatively small scale, which has earned them near universal praise for it's artistry, tact and creative ambition- if not for it's meagre length. Telling a story mixed in fantasy and analogy delving into the protagonists struggle with mental illness on the path to confronting the death of her lover- which she bitterly confronts in flashes of denial that ultimately shape her path through that in an evolving story. It really is peak interactive fiction on a narrative level, and whilst the gameplay might leave a little to be desired, some might say, the worth of the art alone makes up for that deficit, which is a praise I don't always visit upon the gaming world. They are Storytellers- with the capital S.

But within that space of game developers a certain contingent of gamers that feel a certain animosity. I'm talking about the people who denigrate narrative based games as pretenders upon the industry- and to be fair I can actually make out where it is these folk are coming from. Afterall, we're not just talking abut games that features themselves prominently around a central narrative. We're talking about the kind of games wherein the 'gameplay' is summed up as watching movies and making dialogue choices every now and then. Maybe an odd QTE is chucked in to make players remember they have some agency over the action. I'm talking about David Cage games- and whilst I disagree with the sentiment that such a breed of games is somehow inherently low quality- There's often a wanting amount of interactivity in this 'interactive' medium.

This is not necessarily a criticism levied at Ninja Theory, but it touches on a certain perception around their newest games. That the Hellblade games carry a kind of 'lazy gameplay' aspect to them which dumps complexity in the hands of the player in favour of telling a story. Now again, the Hellblade games tell good stories, but this is the games industry. If you want to show us a really pretty movie, then become animated movie makers. If you want to make games, then you need to focus on what makes a fun game to play. Hellblade 1 featured a pretty shockingly sad combat system which the player had very little interaction with but which pretty disappointed pretty often. And after all the growth, feedback and development years that Ninja Theory have gone away with- what the gave us seemed to have improved in none of the core-most critiqued areas. 

Hellblade 2 is a looker, and it tells a story that some think is quite engaging, but the general perception seems to be that Ninja Theory has delivered another 'lazy game'. 5 hours of gameplay the prioritizes it's visuals above all else, lacklustre gameplay, pathetic puzzles and some lovers of the first game even say the game's heart doesn't beat quite the same way that the original did. Of course, there are those so dazzled by the technical showcase that they call it the second coming, but the same could be said about Starfield- it's still not winning over the average gamer's heart. And in the wake of this, Xbox's latest not-so-spectacular exclusive, it seems somewhat prudent to ask whether or not Ninja Theory as still in a good place of standing with Xbox.

Having put out a thank-you statement to the community, and then vigorously defended that the statement was purely a 'thanks for the support' and not an elaborately disguised 'goodbye'- it would seem that Ninja Theory have been given no indication that their neck is on the line. But then neither was Tango Gameworks. Tango were actually in talks about their next game and led to believe all was trucking along swimmingly before their hardwork and success was rewarded with an unemployment slip. Hellblade 2 feels like another game failing to push the needle, even after years of being flaunted around Xbox showcases as the belle of the ball- who's to say they're not next?

Personally I think there always needs to be space in the industry for the middle weight class of games. The non-block busters who punch in at their weight and maybe try a little something new every now and then, keep the enfranchised on their toes just that little bit. Smaller games really are the lifeblood of the industry, and if you are trying to build the value of a publisher it really helps to acknowledge and feed into that. Under Xbox, making smaller games gets you punished, and if Hellblade 2 doesn't manage to strike out and shirk this initial non-plussed reputation it's been laboured with that is exactly what is going to happen to the Ninja's- sad as it is to say.

Hellblade 2: Ninja Theories Saga

 Finally batting for the big leagues!

'Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice' is one of those well received, lauded titles, dripping with accolades and draped in sashes, as the reward to long struggling developers who just wanted to make their mark on the world and seemed to just miss that peak several times over. This game about mythology and mental illness rewrote many's expectations as to what a high-production game could look like on it's best day, and some went to far as to call their depiction of the protagonist's psychosis groundbreaking. (Before those same people turned around a year later and declared it utterly and completely wrong, because that crowd tends to be very temperamental with their praise.)  And for Ninja Theory, the company behind the project, this is the game that finally had the support and love they deserved after all these years. After 'Enslaved: Odyssey to the West' failed to make the success that would lead to it's planned sequels (and then seemingly got it's design ideas nicked by 'Horizon: Zero Dawn') and their DMC reboot which made so many contentious choices that Capcom un-rebooted the franchise, this is the game that finally stuck the landing.

And a lot of that likely comes down to the partnership with Xbox, which helped make this game look so impressive, as well as dominate marketing events that the base team probably didn't have the pull to swing on their own. Couple that with later support from Game Pass, letting the curious try this 'weird-looking game which reviewed really well' without doing the whole 'buy commitment', and you can see why Ninja Theory would feel indebted to them. And it's a relationship that goes both ways. Microsoft has gone so long without high quality, high-scoring console exclusive to combat the slew of personal developers Sony has in their stable, and though it's a basic ground to start from, Hellblade has the reputation to serve as the "high quality experience you can't get anywhere else." Proving that the ever-contentious market share wars between console developers might not be as bitter as it used to be, but is no less important to these companies for whatever narcissistic reason.

So it's no surprise that this specific series is getting it's sequel, just as it's no surprise that both Ninja Theory and Microsoft are dedicated to sinking as much resources as possible into the game in order to make it the best-in-class in whatever way they can. Ninja Theory have to ride their winning horse and probably put pains into upping their fidelity with metal illness and doing everything they can to please fickle self-proclaimed 'experts' for another 10 months with their research and adaptation, whilst Microsoft are getting desperate to prove the power of their new console and thus justify the absolutely ludicrous effort one still needs to undergo in order to get it. As such, it was no real surprise to see neither company waiting until next year's E3 event in order to show off their new work. They need to get the ball rolling now, get people thirsting over this game from the get-go, if they both want to inspire the devotion they're shooting for.

When 'Hellblade II: Senua's Saga' was bought out for the Game Awards, the intention behind marketing was clearly stated by talking corporate puppet mouth-piece, Geoff Keighley; 'I couldn't tell the cutscenes from the gameplay!'. This is an old foil of the marketing scene whenever a new generation of console comes around, from the Playstation 3 onwards, where people drum up the idea that graphical fidelity and animation systems have grown so advanced that active gameplay moves as cleanly and looks as incredible as professionally animated cinematic action. And a lot of the time it's more a trick, a bit of smoke and mirrors, or even a heavily choregraphed 'gameplay' sequence which best sells this effect. As for Senua's Saga, it was a little bit of both coming together to sell the gameplay (and thus the power of the ever elusive Series X) to the world.

If you've seen the gameplay then you likely know what I'm talking about. We have a scene of Senua stalking into a giant's cave with her loyal tribesmen flanking her back, and the introduction to the scene is synced with the start of the gameplay so that you don't get that brief flash of black screen or the even jittery shudder telltale of player's control. Of course, I think it's evident there's some sort of on-rails system going on here, because a player just naturally doesn't control a actor like a video game cinematographer does, and that sense only becomes more evident as the scene plays out. As the action unfurls, we're not really seeing any gameplay, but more of an interactive cinematic action sequence with lots of running, little cuts of aiming, and no real impact from the player's point. It's window dressing for a video game, the sort of thing that's novel the first time you play, but which you'll be wising to skip past on repeat playthroughs. It's an illusion.

Which isn't to say that there is no substance whatsoever to the gameplay we saw. Right away it's obvious, without a doubt, that the graphical prowess of this game is one of the best on the market. Or rather, one of the best due for the market, because this game isn't slated until around Christmas 2022. (Guess the team just has to cross their fingers that Sony isn't going to surprise drop something better in the time since. Ninja's Theory's biggest asset being touted right now is something as ephemeral as 'the best graphics for the moment', afterall) Animations do run incredibly smooth, and I have no doubt that'll continue onto actual gameplay without the training wheels, and the renderings of models, especially character skin, is almost indistinguishable from real-life. It's almost to the otherside of the supposedly unpassable 'uncanny valley', it's truly remarkable.

What I think the big next hill that Hellblade II needs to cross, comes down to the only thing which can't be proven until launch, the story. The narrative of the first title was conceptually straightforward but bled naturally into everything the team wanted to do with mental illness, with mythology, with player expectations and all of that. By it's very nature Hellblade II will have to aim higher than all that, but the team need to be careful that the soul of what made the first game so special doesn't slip away from them. We've seen this happen in seemingly inevitable slam dunk sequels like KOTOR 2 or The Last of Us 2. Both proceeded with a grand dreams and both got a little tangled up with execution in different ways. KOTOR tried to be more than the team had the resources to make in the time available and The Last of Us lost it's human emotion in favour of hollow spectacle which bled-out all the heart from the franchise. Ninja Theory have a tall order ahead of them.

As much as I conceptually hate the perfunctory role of Ninja's in pop culture, (that's a whole other thing, maybe I'll get to explain it here one day) I have a great respect for Ninja Theory and am glad they're finally getting that break the studio has deserved for years now. They've always seemingly been making great games and small circumstances here and there has just consistently cost them inevitable success. Senua's Sacrifice was well earnt and long overdue for them, and I'm hopeful that Saga can continue that ride into the future so that we may continue to see more from these ambitious minds over in that company. They're like an indie studio with bigger resources at times, and I love to see it. I'm just crossing my fingers that all the time dedicated to gilding the shell and making each shiny cave rock glitter for the 8K Game Awards screen hasn't cost the game some crucial engineering down in the main hood of the beast.

Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.

After we spent yesterday going into PlayStation's inaugural attempt to secure early console sales, I only thought it right that we shift our gaze to their direct competitors, the folk over at Xbox. Theirs, afterall, is a rivalry that has persisted through the ages of gaming in the modern century, and as such their marketing strategies tend to mirror one another. Xbox focused on creating a community hub console last gen whilst PlayStation focused purely on games, and roles appear to be switching around for the coming generation. Similarly, both of these companies thought it was appropriate to offer up a brief teaser of the capabilities of their next console via a brief trailer supposedly rendered using that console.

For PlayStation that title was Godfall, a game that didn't do much for me personally but others have elicited some excitement for. Xbox, however, decided to take a fresh approach to this trend by teasing a game that was not a brand new IP, but a sequel to a celebrated game from a recently acquired Studio; Ninja Theory's 'Hellblade: Senua's Sacrfice'. I find this choice of teaser game interesting for a great many reasons, not least of which because Ninja Theory first burst onto the scene as a very Sony-friendly developer. In 2017 they published their very own Dark Souls-inspired title named 'Nioh' that received mass praise and attention but, crucially, was a PlayStation exclusive throughout it's lifetime. Even the original Hellblade was originally only playable on Sony's console until nearly a year after launch. Having seemingly secured the franchise as an Xbox title, Microsoft are clearly showcasing their willingness to poach the premiere talent where needed. (Although I really hope this isn't an exclusive. That would suck for fans of the original.)

Another key reason that 'Hellblade' is a significant choice for a launch title is because it is a sequel as opposed to something new. The prevailing train of thought when it comes to creating a launch line-up is that you are on the verge of a whole new generation of play and so it would behoove you to support and develop wholly brand new ideas. Afterall, if you want to showcase the domineering power of your new console it would help if your consumers didn't have any earlier games in the series with which to compare and go "I don't really see that much of a difference." However this line of reasoning has bought us title after title that is designed to look flashy on the outside but is ultimately devoid of passion and content on the inside. (A phenomena that I went into great detail about during my last blog.) This generation Xbox has decided to go a different way.

'Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice' was an absolute powerhouse in 2017, rising from relative obscurity to hit the game awards and walk away with the 'Best in Voice acting' award. It also received considerable praise for the way that the team studied and depicted mental health and paranoia in order to make the core themes of the game feel vivid and real. This is a title that the general public have a history with and an expectation of quality around, an expectation that is very much transitive once they hear about the impending sequel 'Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga', despite the negative connotation usually associated with 'launch titles'. Xbox don't even really need to let people know what the game is about, that audience already has that history, their only job with this reveal was to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this new 'Hellblade' would blow the old one out of the water on terms of raw fidelity if nothing else. (A tall order considering how visually stunning the last title was.)

Whilst last blog I slyly mocked 'Godfall' for choosing to render easy 'clean' textures and visuals to showcase the power of their new engine, I must give credit to Xbox for choosing the harder path. 'Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga's trailer prominently showcases one of the most difficult textures possible to pull off, human skin, up close and in detail. It is a good sign, then, that during this reveal people in the comments were fighting over whether or not this trailer is live-action. (It isn't.) Senua's face is genuinely remarkable to behold in this trailer in the way that is contorts and pulls in incredibly realistic movements. Muscles pull the tendons they are supposed to, nothing seems too bright and sub-surface lighting is appropriate. This face looks real. Of course there are some small issues if you look too closely like some 'halo' outline around the hair, but overall the effects are truly striking.

As for the content of the trailer itself, this one was appropriately mysterious considering the themeing of these games, (A series in which, I'll remind you, Senua travels to a manifestation of the afterlife) however there are some interesting thematic changes that I've noticed. Most prominently, the fact that we actually see other people in this trailer apart from Senua, both wondering through a foggy marsh and lining up behind her during her demonic ravings. (No clue what that's about, by the by.) This is significant because of how prominent the theme of isolation was for the first title, fueling her schizophrenic hallucinations of voices to fill the void of company. Now she is not only with company but appears to be at the head of a druidic tribe, possibly symbolic of her growth as a character from one who was lost to one who now leads.

We also see a great deal of druidic imagery in this trailer, hinting at the dark, cultish-like vibes of the original and likely promising that this name game deliver a great deal more. Tonally, this all seems very different to Playstation's 'Godfall' and the godawful 'Faux-Avengers' dialogue that the characters were sharing. The distinction is so pronounced, in fact, that I can't help but wonder if Microsoft and Sony coordinated their reveals in order to pull separate crowds and not step on each others shoes. (Big if true.) I have to admit that Senua does seem more up my street, but PlayStation does also have their 'Last of us Part 2' and another title which I may be covering soon, (Or have already covered, considering the ass-backwards way that I organize these blogs) so I can't say that this alone has sold me on the Series X, or whatever the final title is. (The first step on that road would be Microsoft solving that energy consumption issue that folk are speculating about. It's pretty darn non-negotiable too.)

Gaming has always been an unique medium in that despite it's size there is still room for smaller studios to come out with something crazy that blows everyone out of the water. (providing the folk involved are insanely skilled, passionate and get lucky with amassing an audience.) For Ninja Theory it is amazing to think that they've gone from a tiny studio to one of the frontrunners for the next generation, and personally I feel that story has to be a little inspiration for other big-dreaming studios out there. Even if this game weren't the launch title for the next gen, I would be excited to dive into it, and that's not something that I can say for every title I come across. That being said, there's still room for Microsoft to completely botch the release of the Series X, just like last generation, and ruin the chances of 'Senua' to reach a large audience, so I suppose the ball is in their court now. Don't mess it up.